A Glimpse Into My "Gladdest Hours"....Home Life With Five Little Girls, One Sweet Baby Boy and a Wonderful Husband

December 24, 2011

We are off to Christmas Eve Mass at the Cathedral, where the three oldest girls sing tonight. My sister is here from Colorado and has never been to the Cathedral, so I'm excited for her to see St. James and the girls sing! Afterwards we'll have snacks and appetizers amidst our straw-strewn table!! Everyone is very excited and the smiles abound!

Hoping the birth of Baby Jesus brings you much joy this holy Christmas season!

February 24, 2011

The three older girls are now officially American Heritage Girls. AHG is a Christian scouting organization for girls. They are LOVING their Troop Meetings, which take place twice a month. And, this weekend they have their first "social event" -- a Father/Daughter Dance!

February 09, 2011

Pete has some pretty specific rules about what Michael will NOT be wearing. No pink, no girl clothes, no dresses or cute little hats. The girls are NOT to dress him up! LOL! He never said anything about doll-glasses, though:

September 05, 2010

A glorious thing happened while I was in my first 4 months of pregnancy, while I was tired, nauseous, and producing tons of saliva (thank goodness THAT's over....as of August 7.) We discovered that 9-year-old Madeleine could clean up the kitchen by herself!!!!

And, there is just NOTHING that makes me happier than chore-progress! So, of course, I MUST blog about it.

At her request, I made this little checklist for her check-marking-pleasure; she likes to see what she's accomplished and how much is left. And, it helps her learn things like "rinse the pots and pans BEFORE you make up the hot, soapy water." We keep this on the front of the fridge:

She had lots of help in August with Mathilde here, but she is back doing it mostly by herself with me occasionally popping in. I never thought I'd be able to "occasionally pop in" on my kitchen getting cleaned up! LOL! Dreams DO indeed come true!

This also caused us to switch evening chores around by ZONE, which also has the added benefit of kids not bugging each other while working. Plus, Madeleine is able to hum and sing all she wants without annoying her sisters. LOL!

August 30, 2010

We had a lovely, wonderful, fun, talented and very helpful visitor this August! Her name was Mathilde, and she traveled across "l'Atlantique" from Rennes, France to spend a month with us---to improve her English, experience a little corner of the United States and help me with the girls. I was able to focus on some yearly school planning and projects before that slower-third-trimester hits. It was everything we could have hoped for and more!

Here we are after Mass on her last Sunday with us~

The girls ADORED her:

They are staying AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE as she checks in her luggage at the airport last Wednesday. Moments later, they were all just a puddle of tears as we said, "Adieu." :-(

By the way, Mathilde is the oldest of five children. Her parents had FIVE GIRLS and the SIXTH (Charles) is a BOY, who is 1 year old. Coincidence???? I think not! So, we'll have "un petit correspondant" for our little boy too.

August 23, 2010

And, it was so QUICK! So easy to see boy-parts! I was on that table
for two minutes and the technician said, "Well, it looks like you have
the other variety this time!"

"What?" I asked.

"You've
got the other variety this time!"

"Really? You're kidding!" I
said.

"No...I saw it right away, actually, but we were chatting!"
she responded.

Pete, who had apparently not yet settled his very
large quadriceps and gigantic shoulders into the tiny little chair
provided for him, wasn't even paying attention yet. I think he was
dreaming of firing his new gun in the mountains the next day.....but
he denies it, of course.

"What? Huh? What are you talking
about?" he stammered.

"Pete....it's a BOY! She said it's a boy!
Can you believe it?"

"No way! It's not a boy! It can't be a
boy!"

"Yes.....it's a boy!

"Are you SURE? Where? Show it
to me! Can we see?"

And, yep....there it was....REALLY OBVIOUS!
As opposed to the past when we've waited 45 minutes and the
ultrasound-tech says, "Well....we think it's a girl, but we're not
sure." I always wanted to just give a gigantic eye roll and shake my
head and say, "Really? Could you check AGAIN? I've been here for over
an hour and provided your student-ultrasound-program with a real live
pregnant body and you've rolled over every single inch of my belly and
you STILL CAN'T TELL? REALLY? Did you quadruple-check?"

I think it's especially funny that God chose to send my 49-year-old-husband a boy NOW. So much for teaching that child how to play LaCrosse and climb
mountains! LOL!

Above is a 21 week photo from last Sunday....but the ultrasound "says" the baby is measuring more around a due date of Dec. 15 (instead of Dec. 29) which would be 2 weeks early.....so maybe this is a 23 week photo.

June 07, 2010

We'll be having a little Christmas bundle this year! And, no, we don't KNOW it's a girl...it's way too early for that. But, REALLY, we DO KNOW, don't we? LOL!

I am 11 weeks along right now, and we go in for the first midwife appointment
next week. The girls are following along in our favorite baby-development book: A Child Is Born. And, they are, of course, extremely excited~

We are in survival-mode around here. Bare essentials. One doesn't do much that isn't essential when you are constantly feeling a strong-calling to get horizontal and feeling nauseous. I also have Ptyalism during the first 3-5 months of pregnancy.

What is Ptyalism, you ask? Increased saliva. And, lots of it. I never go anywhere without my spit-cup and my glass of ice water, to stay hydrated. Which makes it hard to do lots of things. And, I'm very careful where I go in public and to whom I speak. I cannot talk without having to rid myself of the excess saliva every 15 seconds. I think most people just think I am drinking from my little spit-cup. Pete and the girls are not so convinced. LOL!

So, here's to the little-baby-on-the-way, those crazy sisters, a wonderful daddy, and an end to the first trimester!

June 06, 2010

This year, the three older girls were in the St. James Cathedral Youth Music Choir Program. It was an amazing experience and all three girls loved it and received wonderful beginning choral and music training. All my expectations were exceeded, and I'm so glad we decided to commit to this for the year. (Thank you, LeeAnn!) It was a lot of effort.....schlepping five kids downtown Seattle once a week.....3-4 hours door-door, sometimes longer depending on traffic. But, I wasn't pregnant and I didn't have a newborn, so I figured it was a good time to spread-our-wings a bit.

Many of my logistical concerns worked out, and we soon found ourselves at the Cathedral where I used to attend Mass with my girlfriends before I got married. Now, I was here with five offspring in tow!

Believe it or not, there were always large enough spaces for our mammoth van, thanks to the reserved Cathedral spots at O'Dea High School! Otherwise???? Forget it! That would've been IT for us! LOL!

The choir program made an extra room available for those of us with small children....a contained area with a TV when we got desperate :-) And, I couldn't think of two more wonderful ladies to spend 90 minutes with than LeeAnn and Lauris!

The music selection for these young children is superb and lovely! They are exposed to and learning the music of our beautiful Catholic Faith! I have been brought to tears by much of the music that they sang during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

There are three youth choirs that practiced on Thursday afternoons:

St. Gregory Choir, 6-7 year olds. 4:30-6:00 pm. Erika & Dorothy Jo were in this choir.

St. Cecilia Choir, 8-9 year olds. Mrs. Newhall was the director
this year, and she was greatly loved by Madeleine. 4:30-6:00 pm.

Schola Cantorum, 10-13 year olds. Practiced weekly from 4:30-6:30. Ms. Sunde-director. Madeleine has dreams of singing with this choir and can't WAIT to be 10!

May 01, 2010

We found this wonderful Novena Booklet that is just so beautiful. Erika has been praying these prayers in preparation for tomorrow. Here is the one from today~

Oh Jesus, soon I will receive You in Holy Communion. I have waited for this day for a long time. I am so excited to receive the Body and Blood of my dear Redeemer. I have tried to prepare for this day by offering little sacrifices to You to prepare my soul for Your coming. I will ask my dear Mother Mary to come into my soul so that she can receive You with the perfect love which can only make You more pleased to be in my soul. I will never forget this day which brings me so much happiness. I bring to You today, a bouquet of flowers to present to Mary, as a symbol of my love for You. I thank my Lady for bringing You, Jesus, to me. Never let me be parted from You. May I never receive You unworthily. Inflame my heart with love. Keep my faith strong and secure. I trust in Your mercy and love. Keep my hope strong always. I thank You very much for coming into my soul. I will love You always. Amen.